Method of bonding adjacent ends of metallic tubing



July 22, 1947. R; D. WASSERMAN 2,424,522 Q METHOD OF BONDING ADJACENT ENDS OFMETALLIC TUBING Filed March 8, 1944 INVEN TOR. [Pf/V5 D. W/LSJLKMAN.

portions.

In'Fig's. 1 to 4, there are indicated some steps Patented July '22, 1947 METHOD OF BONDING ADJAGENT ENDS OF METALLIC TUBING I Rene D. Wasserman, New York, N. Y. Application March 8, 1944, Serial No. 525,501

This invention refers to an improved method of welding, soldering or brazing together ferrous and/or non-ferrous tubular elements.

It is one of the main objects of the present invention to provide means which may be continuously or intermittently fed between the butt f ends of work pieces, such as tubings, pipes and like tubular elements, to rigidly and closely bond or unite them together upon application of heat, thereby aifording saving in time and reducing the cost in the manufacture of structures, frame work, etc.

It is another object of the presentinvention to speed manufacture and assembly of structural work pieces by provision of means which may be severed from a continuous strip, substantially conformed to the contour of and interposed be-.

tween the adjoining cross cut ends of said work pieces for bonding purposes.

Still another object of this invention'is, to provide predetermined method steps to bring about auniform, efiicient and tight weld connection between contiguous work pieces without exercising any preparatory care (such as recessin or shaping of the ends of said work pieces) or any finishing or after treatment (grinding, filiin-g, turning, etc.) upon accomplishment of the welding, brazing or soldering operation.

Still a further object of this invention is to provide relatively thin and flat means for the purpose of joining butt ends of work pieces together without substantially increasing the weight of said work pieces, said thin, flat means possessing approximately the thickness of the seam produced when heating said means for said purpose far below the melting point of the material of the work pieces.

Other objects of the invention will appear as the description proceeds, it being filderstood, however, that it is not intended that the invention be limited to the exact details described herein; and it is further intended that there be included, as part of the invention, all such obvious changes and modifications thereof as would occur to a. person skilled in the art to which this 1 Claim. (Cl. 113112) according to which pipe portions or sections I0,

II may be welded or bonded together at their straight butt ends Ifla, I Ia in a continuous manner as it is desirable for mass production or in single operation. 7

According to this invention alloy or metal for welding, brazing or soldering purposes may be fed from a roll of band or strip continuously or intermittently between the contiguous cross cut ends of pipe sections I0, II or any other like tubular shaped work pieces. Band I! may be introduced between said ends and may then be cut to fit approximately the particular outer boundary or perimeter of the pipe ends or the band I2 may be punched or stem d before its introduction between said pipe ends. Such proo ess steps may be well realized and carried out on any appropriate machine. The thickness and composition of the band alloy material may be chosen according to the thickness of the walls of th ends of the pipes. or work pieces and may vary in accordance with the character, color and ,quality of the metal of the work pieces.

As one of many possible examples reference is herewith made to pipe sections I0, II of steel or galvanized steel which are about of an inch thick and which are to be Joined together end to end. The alloy in form of a strip I2 may, for instance, consist substantially of copper, nickel, zinc with,the addition of silver as described in U. S. letters Patent No. 2,279,284, dated April 7, 1942,'and may have a thickness varying from .003 of an inch up to .020 or .040 of an inch. Such strip is interposed between said pipe ends, and may project therebeyond with a small margin or rim I4 as clearly seen in Figs. 1 and 4. In some instances, such rim may be entirely dispensed with.

invention pertains and as would fall within the scope of the claim.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 shows in diagrammatic form a crosssectional view of contiguous ends of pipe portions preparatory to welding operation.

Fig. 2 is a view similar to that of Fig. 1 during a stage of the welding operation.

Fig. 3 is an elevational view, (partly broken away) of the welded pipe portions after welding operation.

Fig. 4 is a bottom view of Fig. 1 with heating means applied to the contiguous ends of the pipe It is preferred to first clean the ends 10a, Ila of pipe sections I0, it by. filing or grinding, to cover such ends on the inner and outer walls thereof by a film of suitable flux I5 and to then introduce band piece I2 therebetweenj The alloy band piece is solid and out along edge It to conform to the boundary of the pipe ends. After preheating of the pipe ends and upon subsequently ing to arrows 3-13 and was presumably attracted by capillary. action into the air gap between said ends Ila, Ila to form a perfect bond at the inner and outer wall ends of pipe sections I0, II at locations Ila, Ilb.

The alloys for welding, soldering. and man:

the thickness of which being approximately equal -to the thickness of the seams to be produced durare manufactured in strips and continuous bands ing the bonding operation, which may be per-' formed preferably on copper, tinor zinc-coated tubular elements of steel or metal pieces of brass,

aluminum, nickel, etc. V a

It is obvious that the metal pieces to be joined" or bonded together have straight abutting ends or edges which may be alignedly held in position 10 by any known device. It is further to be noted that instead of a single welding torch, several torches may be applied to uniformly heat the interposed alloy strip while said welding torches are revolving, for instance, about contiguous, tubular ends.

Many modifications of and various embodiments and applications of the invention are possible and may be evident to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope or this invention. The disclosure and description relating to this application are purely illustrativeand in-no way limitative.

Having thus described the invention, what 'is 15 tral sheet portion.

said butt ends a flexible, solid sheet of alloy material having a melting point below that of the elements to be bonded and a thickness between 0.003 and 0.04 inch, thusobstructing the inner diameter of said elements, and applying heat to those portions or the outer wall parts of said elements adjoining their butt ends and the interposed sheet of alloy material until said alloy materialbecomes fluid, thereby causing the enclosed central portion of said sheet to creep toward the inner wall arts or said elements and between said butt ends, whereby a bonding seam is formed be tween said butt ends with the inner diameter of said elements substantially free from said cen- RENE D. WASSERMAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

claimed as new and desired to be'secured by Letters Patent is: b

A processfor bonding together adjacent butt ends of metallic tubings, pipes and like tubular elements, which comprises interposing between UNITED STATES PA'IENTS 

